LONDON UNDERGROUND was due to introduce a 36 trains per hour (tph) frequency on the Victoria Line for a 90-minute period in both the morning and evening peaks from 22 May.
The introduction follows the final phase of the line’s signalling upgrade, which LU says was completed in April. The testing, undertaken over Easter in collaboration with Siemens Rail Automation, followed previously completed track replacement and power upgrade and ventilation replacement work.
The Siemens communications based train control (CBTC) system was commissioned on the line in 2012, to work with the new Bombardier-built 2009 Stock trains; this enabled a 34tph frequency to operate. Rebuilding of the crossover outside Walthamstow Central during a three-week blockade in August 2015 enabled this frequency of service to operate across the entire line from May 2016. The further upgrades will provide for a train every 100 seconds, which LU says will create capacity for 3,000 more customers per hour at the busiest times of the day. The enhanced frequency requires two additional trains to be scheduled for service in the morning peak and one in the evening.
